Malcolm Warne dipped into Henley’s charms and found more than just a town renowned for rowing

AFTER another golden summer for Team GB and with a record number of medals contributed by our rowers, it seemed the most appropriate time to visit a small town which has contributed more than any other in Britain to that Olympic success.

On the face of it Henley-on-Thames doesn’t look like a hub of sporting excellence. A picture-postcard, well-heeled community which often provides the setting for scenes in television’s Midsomer Murders, outside Royal Regatta week in July it is delightfully and sleepily somnolent - if you disregard the traffic.

Winner of a Britain-in-Bloom Gold medal, this 13th century market town is comfortably one of the most beautiful towns in England.

At its heart is the River Thames, which runs along its southern edge and provides its focus. A grand five-arch bridge takes visitors from Oxfordshire to Berkshire and to the Leander Rowing Club, one of the oldest and certainly the most successful rowing club in the world. No fewer than 123 Olympic medals have been accumulated by its members.

It is no surprise that the town is the home of the River and Rowing Museum – a short stroll from the town centre - which is three museums in one. It tells the story of rivers, of rowing and the history of Henley with separate galleries dedicated to each.

The rowing gallery is packed with Olympic memorabilia including the boat in which the legendary Sir Steve Redgrave won his fifth gold medal at the Sydney Games. It tells the story of the sport from the Ancient Greeks to the modern Olympic heroes. Outside the museum is an extraordinarily lifelike sculpture of Sir Steve and his fellow Olympic hero Sir Matthew Pinsent. Both, of course, are members of the Leander Club.

The river gallery tells you all you need to know – and a lot more as it happens – about the River Thames from prehistoric times to the present day, its geological, natural and social history.

The museum is also home to a magical Wind in the Willows exhibition which brings to life the much-loved story with 3D models, lighting and music. Children young and old can join Ratty, Toad, Mole and Badger as they picnic by the river while the wicked weasels ransack Toad Hall. It’s a wonderful tribute to the enduring appeal of Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale.

But if rowing and rivers hold no fascination for you, Henley has a plethora of delightful independent shops, olde worlde pubs, numerous cafes, restaurants and hotels.

We stayed at the town’s Hotel du Vin, one of the boutique group’s trademark conversions of an historic building. In this case it is the old Brakspears brewery, just a stone’s throw from the River Thames and the centre of town.

Brewing moved to Witney in 2002 and the characterful Georgian building has been most sympathetically converted to provide everything the louche bon viveur could need in terms of dining, drinking and accommodation.

Our spacious room, a deluxe double, featured a king-size handsprung mattress, Egyptian cotton sheets, roll-top bath, drench shower with a head the size of a dinner plate and cool, understated decor.

The room had a leaded light window view over the graveyard of St Mary the Virgin Parish Church which sounds spooky but was actually quite beautiful and also rather interesting, containing a number of notable memorials including one for the pop singer Dusty Springfield, who lived in Henley in her later years.

Our meals were superlative. Thanks to the Indian Summer, we were able to dine in the hotel Bistro’s courtyard – the old Brewery yard – both on the evening and for breakfast the following day. The stand-out dishes were the largest lemon sole meuniere I’ve seen in years, served on the bone with a subtly piquant caper and butter sauce, and a Limousin carpaccio starter, slivers of velvety-soft young beef served with the dinkiest boudin blanc scotch egg and smoky roasted garlic.

Of course, given where we are dining, wine is central to the experience and our choice – an Orballo Albarino – was fresh and zingy with characteristic perfumed and floral notes punching well above its medium-priced slot (£30) in the Hotel du Vin’s extensive wine list.

Service was top notch, helpful and knowledgeable from the reception staff, to the bar and the bistro. Olympic standard in fact.

Fact file

River and Rowing Museum

Mill Meadows, Henley on Thames RG9 1BF www.rrm.co.uk

Open daily 10am-5pm. Admission £11 (adult ticket valid for a year), concessions £10, child four and over £9. Family discount 10 per cent.

Hotel du Vin

New Street, Henley on Thames RG9 2BP Tel: 01491 877579 www.hotelduvin.com.

Double rooms from £114. Bistro autumn fixed price menu: three courses for £19.95.